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Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Homeowner Tip #18: Promoting Your Garage Sale

If you want your next garage sale to be a huge success, put some time and effort into promoting it.

1. Plan your advertising strategy well in advance and spend your advertising money wisely. Shopper-type publications, community television stations and your local paper are generally good bets. Call these companies early to get policies, prices and deadlines.

2. Look for free advertising sources such as bulletin boards in local businesses and friends' company newsletters. Create a sale flier and distribute it around your neighborhood to boost attendance.

3. Arrange for your ads to appear the days of the sale as well as the day before. The ad should cover the basics including the date, time and address of your sale. If your home is hard to find, include directions. Adding certain words like huge, bargains, antiques, consignment-quality and designer will help your ad grab shoppers' attention.

4. Make signs and post them along important access routes on the days of the sale. The signs should be written in a simple block style and have letters large enough to read from a passing car. They should point the way to your house and include the date and time.

5. On the sale dates, folks driving by are basically window shopping. Using flags, balloons, promotional signs — anything that can make your sale stand out — will attract attention and invite people to stop.

6. Keep a consistent look with the decorations on your signs so that your house is easily identifiable.